Rinsing head for automatic dishwashers



NOV. 6, 1.945 G. J. 'FDERIGHI 2,388,258

RINSING HEAD FOR AuToMATrc DrsHwAsHERs Filed Nov. 1, 1941 INVENTOR @MESEJ'DEEJGHI 147" TOBNEYS Patented Nov. 6, `1945 l c UNITED STATE s'PATENTQoEFlcE RINSING HEAD FOR AUTOMATIC DrsHWAsHERS f George J.Federighi, San Francisco, Calif. i Application November 1, 1941,seriaiNo. 417,515j

' 8 clams. (o1. a99-fea) The present invention relates to improvementsin a rinsing" head for automatic dish washer,

and it consists of the combinations, constructions and arrangementshereinafter described` and claimed.

` out in the appended claims.

Noalterations. in the dish Washer are necessary to effect the change.

Other objects and'advantages willappear in the following specification,and the novel features of the device will be particularly pointed Myinvention is illustrated inthe accompany- 'ing drawing forming a part ofthis application,

in which:`

Figure 1 is `a side elevation of Van automatic dish washer, portionsbeing shown in section to illustrate the 'connection of my rinse arm tothe operating parts;

Figure 2 is a longitudinalsection through the rinse arm;. Figure 3 is asectionl along the line 3--3 of Figure 2j and the rinsing compartmentcauses the portions of the dishes in line with the rinse spray apronduring the interval when the rack is standing still to be effectivelyrinsedbut the portions of the dishes, etc., coming into contact with thespray during the movement of the rack and the dishes is not for asufcient length of time to be rinsed effectively. The result is astreaky rinsing of the dishes, some parts being clean, other parts notclean.

"The principal object of my invention is to provide a novel rinsingmeans in the rinsing compartment for continuously moving a curtain ofWater to and fro in the compartment and to change the angle of the planeformed by the curtain of water continuously so that all surfaces of thedishes, etc., will be efciently rinsed even though the rack is movedintermittently through the rinsing compartment.

A further object of my invention is to provide a rinse which is actuatedby the same mechanism that intermittently advances the racks, thismechanism continuously moving ,the arm for continuously changing theangle at which the rinse water strikes the dishes, etc., in the rack.This continuous changing angle` of the rinse water upon the dishes,etc., eiectivelyrinses all surfaces in spite of the intermittent motionof the racks through the rinse compartment.

Sitill a further object of my invention is to provide novel means in therinse arm for screening the rinsing fluid before the uid passes throughthe nozzles that direct Ythe fluid against the dishes, and for retainingany foreign matter in a place where it may be readily removed. The rinsearm can be quickly substituted for the Yone in the machine and attachedto the same water outlet normally connected to the standard arm.

Figure 4 is a section along theline 4--4 of'Fig- While I have shOWnonlythe preferred form of my invention, it should be understood thatyariouschanges ormodications may be made within the scope of the appendedclaims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In carrying out my invention, I makeuse `of washer indicated generallyan automatic dish washer is adapted to receive at A', and the'dish dishracks indicated generally at B, these racks oughly washed being of twostandard forms. One form of rack has rods for holding plates ata deniteangle and in spaced relation `so that they will be thorand rinsed asthey: pass `through the machine. The other type of rack has a screenedbottom for supporting cups in inverted position and for carryingsilverware.` `The 4trays are moved through awash` chamber, indicatedgenerally at C, and a rinse compartment, indicated generally at D.

The means for moving the racks throughthe dish washer consists of afloating carriage, indicated generally at E, that is reciprocatedbyalink I, see Figure 1, that is connected to a motor and a gear reducingmechanism (not shown) the link being reciprocated by the gear reductionmechanism during the operation of ythe motor.

` The link is connected to an automatic release, in-

dicated generally at F, which in turnis pivoted to the dish washercasing at 2. `A second link 3 connects theautomatic'release F with thefloating carriage E. ,It will be seen that duringthe operation ofthemotor the carriage will be reciprocated.

The trays or racks. ride on gulderails yIt disposed atA the sides of themachine, and the racks have lugs 5 at theirbottoms and arrangedalong thejusted for rack side walls, these lugs being successively engaged bysets of driving pawls 6. The lloating carriage E has side members towhich the pawls 6 are pivotally mounted as at 'I. The pawls are weightedso th'at they will cause their front ends 8 to engage with the lugs 5.The pawls are slotted, and pins 9 limit the upward movement of the frontends 8.

The pawls are reciprocated by the floating carriage and during theirmovement to the left in Figure 1 they will free themselves from onelpair of lugs and ride under the next pair of lugs. During th'e movementof the oating carriage to the right, the front ends 8 of the pawls willraise and engage with the pair of lugs they have just passed. In thisWay a reciprocating movement of the floating carriage willintermittently advance Ithe dish racks. The parts thus far describedform no part of my invention except insofar as th'ey cooperate with theparts now to be described.

The racks are open at their bottoms, and rinsing water is directedupwardly through the bottoms of the racks to rinse the dishes G carriedby the racks. Figure 2 illustrates my improved rinse arm H connected tothe rinse water con- Y veying pipe I9 that forms a part of the automaticdish Wash'er. I will first describe the construction of the rinse armand then will set forth how it is operated during the functioning of thema-V chine. The rinse arm is tubular in construction and consists of anouter pipe II and an inner pipe I2, the inner pipe being spaced inwardlyfrom the outer pipe to form a fluid conveying channel or annular spaceI3 that is concentric to the inner pipe I2. The outer pipe II rotates onan enlarged portion I4 of the inner pipe I2.

A liquid tight seal is effected between the pipes II and I 2 by acoupling composed of two parts I5 and I6. The part I5 is screwed upon athreaded portion I'I of the inner pipe II, and the part I5 has anexteriorly threaded portion I8 for receiving the threaded portion of thepart I6. The outer pipe I I has an annular iiange I9 received betweenthe parts I5 and I6. The parts are adforming a liquid tight seal whilestill permitting the outer pipe II to vrotate on the inner pipe I2.

The other end of the outer pipe II is enlarged as at Ila and isinternally threaded at I9. The Venlarged end receives a bearing 20 thathas a central opening 2| in which the end of the pipe I2 is rotatablymounted. Figure 3 shows the bearing 20 as being spaced from portions ofthe inner wall of the enlarged member IIa so as to provide waterpassageways 22. A screen 23, see Figure 2', is placed over the bearing20 and covers the water passages 22. The screen is removable from theenlarged end IIa. A cap 24 closes the .enlarged end IIa and is screwedinto the threads I9 and bears against the screen 23 for holding it inplace. Th'e cap 24 has a, compartment 25 for permitting water passingthrough the inner tube I2 to enter the outer tube I I by means of thepassageways 22.

The inner pipe I2 has its threaded end I'I received in the rinse wateroutlet pipe I0, and the rinse arm H is supported in this manner. Thepipe I2 does not rotate but is rigidly supported by the pipe I0. Theouter pipe Il is free to rock on the inner pipe I2. The outer pipe Ilhas a. plurality of nozzles 26 that communicate with openings 21 in theouter pipe. It will be seen from this construction that rinse waterflowing through the inner pipe I2 will pass into the compartment 25 andthen be screened before passing through the passages 22 and into theannular passageway I3. The cleaned rinsing fluid will then enter theopenings 21 and be ejected through the spray nozzles 26. Any number ofnozzles may be provided, and th'ree will be suiiicient for the washingmachine illustrated in Figure 1. The nozzles form a spray that extendstransversely across the washing machine.

The means for rocking the outer pipe II about the inner pipe I2 isillustrated in Figures 1 and 4. An arm 28 is clamped to the outer pipeII by a screw bolt 29 and the arm has a plurality of openings 30. Anadjustable link 3l h'as a pin 32 passed through one of the openings 30for pivoting the link to the arm. The other end of the link 3I has anopening 33 for receiving the pin 'I that pivotally carries the drivingpawl 6. A reciprocation of the driving pawl 6 will cause th'e link 3l torock the arm 28 and cause the outer pipe II to rock on the inner vpipeI2.

From the foregoing descriptionpf the various parts of the device, theoperation thereof may be readily understood.

The rinse arm H is used in conjunction with an upper spray head J, seeFigure 1. The openings 3 and 35 in the rinse compartment D are closed bycurtains 3B and 31 respectively. The spray from the nozzles 26 isejected upwardly through the bottom of the rack B that is passingthrough the rinse compartment, and the reciprocation of the oatingcarriage E Will cause the outer pipe II to rock on the stationary innerpipe I2 and thus to direct a curtain of water radially from the rinsearm H and transversely of the dish washer.` The rocking of the rinse armwill continuously change the angle of the apron spray so that all thedishes will be contacted. The continuous rocking movement of the rinsearm will eiectively clean the dishes even though the rack isintermittently moved through the rinse compartment. This will preventany uneven rinsing of the dishes.

In the usual dish washer, the spray openings are small because a goodmany spray nozzles have to be used in order to deliver a suflicientquantity of water to rinse the dishes. Even this added number of nozzlesdoes not rinse the dishes properly. By rocking the spray arm to contactwith different surfaces of the dishes, I am able to reduce the number ofnozzle outlets and therefore increase their size so as to permit agreater quantity of rinse water to issue from each nozzle. This largerquantity of water will have the elect of thoroughly rinsing the dishes.The amount of water passing from the rinse arm will not be in excess ofthat normally permitted and therefore the water will not ll the tank,indicated generally at K, see Figure 1, to a point Where it will passout through the overflow pipe (not shown). The larger openings will notbecome clogged so readily as the small spray openings, and the screeningof the rinse water before it reaches the nozzles further reduces anychances of the nozzles becoming clogged. My rinse arm will swing theapron of water throughout the length of the compartment rather thanconne the Water to a given vertical plane. The dishes are stacked at anangle and the continuously changingv angle of the rinse water will cleanall dish surfaces.

The rinse arm cleans the water and retains any foreign matter at the endof the arm Where it may be removed when the cap is removed from the arm.The screen may have struck up portions (not shown) which act as handlesfor removing the screen from the arm for cleaning purposes and forplacing the screen back in position. The bearing 20 performs theadditional function of acting as a support for the screen 23.

I claim:

1. A rockable rinse arm having a central uid conveying conduit and aspray pipe enclosing and being rockably mounted on the conduit, meansdisposed at one end of the arm for placing the conduit and spray pipe incommunication with each oth'er, screening means at the same arm end forscreening the uid beforev it enters the spray pipe, outlet nozzles forthe spray pipe, a reservoir placed adjacent to the screening means forreceiving and holding any foreign matter screened, and a cap normallyclosing the reservoir but being removable for permitting the reservoirto be cleaned.

2. In combination, an inner fluid conveying tube, an outer tube spacedfrom and rotatable about the inner tube, a bearing disposed near one endof the first tube for rotatably supporting an end of the outer tube onthe inner tube, said bearing having openings placing both tubes incommunication with each other, outlet nozzles carried by the outer tubeand communicating with the space between the tubes, and a bearingdisposed near the other end of the first tube for rotatably supportingthe other end of the outer tube.

3. Means for swingably supporting longitudinally spaced jets of fluidthat are free to swing about an axis common to all of the jets,comprising the combination of a hollow fluid supply member, a spray pipespaced from and surrounding the supply member and having longitudinallyspaced jets communicating withn the supply member, bearings forsupporting the ends of the spray pipe, and a screened openablecornpartment receiving the fiuid from the supply member and screeningthe uid before it enters the spray line whereby foreign matter will betrapped in the compartment and removable when the compartment is opened.

4e. A rockable rinse arm comprising a pipe adapted to communicate with afluid conveying pipe and be supported thereby, a spray pipe rotatablymounted on the inner pipe, a bearing placed at the free end of the innerpipe and acting as a spacer between the inner pipe and spray pipe, saidbearing having openings for permitting uid to flow from the inner pipeinto the spray pipe, a cap closing the spray pipe, a screen closing theopenings and held in place against the bearing by the cap, said caphaving a chamber placing the inner pipe in communication with the spraypipe, said chamber also retaining foreign material caught -by thescreen, and nozzles carried by the spray pipe and receiving the uidreceived by the spray pipe.

5. In combination, a stationary fluid-conveying pipe, an elongated spraypipe enclosing the i'lrst pipe, :bearings rotatably supporting the endsof the spray pipe on the first pipe so that the intermediate spray pipeportion will be spaced from the rst pipe, and fluid outlet nozzlesdisposed along the length of the spray pipe and communieating with oneend of the stationary pipe for receiving fluid therefrom.

6. A rockable rinse arm having a central iiuidconveying conduit, a spraypipe enclosing the conduit and being spaced therefrom, bearingsrotatably supporting the ends of the spray pipe on the conduit, meansdisposed at one end of the arm for placing the conduit and spray pipe incommunication with each other, the bearing disposed adiacent to the sameend of the arm having openings therein, for the passage of fluidtherethrough, screening means at the same arm end for screening thefluid before it enters the spray pipe, and outlet nozzles disposed alongthe length of the spray pipe.

'7. A rinse arm comprising an inner iiuid conveyingtube, a spray tubespaced from and rotatable about the inner tube, a bearing disposed nearone end of the arm for rotatably supporting an end of the spray tube onthe inner tube, said bearing having openings placing both tubes incommunication with each other, and a screen in the spray tube andextending across the openings in the bearing, said screen having anopening'registering with the inner tube.

8. A rinse arm comprising an inner fiuid-conveying tube, a spray tubespaced from and rotatable about the inner tube, a bearing disposed nearone end of the arm for rotatably supporting an end of the spray tube onthe inner tube, said bearing having openings placing both tubes incommunication with each other, a screen in the spray tube and extendingacross the openings in the bearing, said screen having an openingregistering with the inner tube, the spray tube and screen defining arefuse receiving compartment, and a cap for closing the compartment andbeing removably carried by the spray tube.

' GEORGE J. FEDERIGHI.

